The electrical and electronic industries routinely utilize machines for automatically attaching interconnecting wiring to terminals arranged on a panel by means of solderless wrapped connections. One such machine is the Automatic Wire-Wrap Machine, Model 14FV, manufactured by the Gardner-Denver Company. As described in the reference patent, the machine consists of movable carriages containing wrapping tool and dressing finger assemblies that are positioned to form a desired wire pattern. The dressing fingers are capable of being positioned in both the "X" and "Y" axes in small incremental distances with respect to the terminals emanating from the panel being wrapped. Also, the dressing fingers may be suitably positioned along one of said axes with respect to its associated wrap tool.
In operation, the desired wire pattern is initially formed in space above the terminals to be wrapped. Upon instruction of the machine program, the wrapping tool bits and the dressing fingers are lowered over the terminals on the panel and connections are made to the two terminals under the wrap tools. At approximately the conclusion of the wrap operation, the dressing finger is retracted into its associated sleeve or guide which pushes the wire out of the circumferential groove in the finger, which groove had supported and restrained the wire during the pattern forming stage.
It has been found that the dressing finger assembly utilized in present day machines, has a tendency under certain conditions, such as wire build-up on the wiring panel, to pinch and cut the wire insulation as the finger retracts within the guide. In such cases, the wire must be replaced to prevent possible electrical short circuits. Wire replacements on high density panels in a production environment are time consuming and costly.
It is apparent that a need exists for a dressing finger assembly of improved design which eliminates the aforementioned wire damage. The assembly of the present invention fills such a need.